Win Me Over
by fyn64
Summary: This takes place right after an actual conversation between Seth and Summer from the episode The Lonely Hearts Club. one-shot fic.


Title: **Win Me Over**  
Author: Karleen  
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Warner Brothers. I do not own The OC or any song used in this fanfic. This was just written for fun.

_This fanfic takes place right after this actual conversation from The Lonely Hearts Club._

Seth was sitting on the bed stunned. Summer walked in after knocking and slowly walked toward Seth and sat next to him.

"Ok" she paused. "Cohen, you wanna explain that meltdown before?" she asked gently. He didn't answer but looked like he wanted to say something.

"Look" she said. He did so. "If there's something you wanna say to me, now's your chance." 

_This is where the fanfic begins._

Before Summer stepped in to the room, he knew exactly what he wanted to tell her. He had this elaborate speech prepared about how his idea of the pitch was stronger. And that, The Ironist, him, and Little Miss Vixen, her, made sense together. Somehow he just couldn't seem to bring himself to tell her then and there.

"Don't say I didn't ask." Summer was ready to give up. She started to get up then Seth took her hand and he slowly faced her.

"It's hard..." He trailed off. She looked at him seriously. He swallowed the lump in his throat and said. "I want to be your friend Summer, I really do. But the way things are arranged I don't think that's possible. I can not **just **be your friend after last year."

"Cohen..." she tried to steer clear from the subject but every time they talked, it always seems to rise to the surface. "That was the past, stop digging it up. You left, remember?"

"It wasn't because of you..." he looked at her still holding her hand. "All that time I thought of no one else but you... of how illogical it was that I just took off and of how much I realized I hurt you." She didn't break away from him. "You think this comic just popped out of nowhere?"

It still struck Summer on how brutally honest Seth can be when he needed. She didn't want to be angry anymore, but she still ached from when she read the note he left her. She still remembered the many times she cried herself to sleep. She thought being with Zach would solve her problems, there was one dilemma, he was not Cohen.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, knowing that now she'll finally get the answer she wanted from him, the truth.

"I wanted to" he paused, took his hand away from her slowly and looked down. "With all that was happening, you deserved someone so much better, your father was right..."

"That's why you left? because you thought I deserved better? Better than what Cohen?" she took his hand and held it close with her.

_A song starts to play in a low volume. "I can't make you love me"- by Bonnie Raitt _

_Turn down the lights_  
_Turn down the bed_  
_Turn down these voices_  
_inside my head_

_Lay down with me_  
_Tell me no lies_  
_Just hold me close,_  
_don't patronize_  
_Don't patronize me_

Seth looked at her and without question, they knew what was about to happen. They both leaned in and felt each other's lips for the first time of what seemed to be an eternity. They kissed many times before but this time it was different. This time it was so powerful and passionate that in this brief moment they were a whole again. They slowly broke apart and Summer turned away slightly.

_Cause I can't make you love me_  
_if you don't_  
_You can't make your heart feel_  
_something it won't_  
_Here in the dark_  
_in these final hours_  
_I will lay down my heart_  
_And I'll feel the power_  
_but you won't_  
_No, you won't_  
_Cause I can't make you love me_  
_if you don't_

"Hmm..." she was caught out of words. He looked at her, then gently placed his hand on her face. She closed her eyes and he kissed her again with a soft aggression. Everything was ignored for the sake of the moment. It was perfect until it all fell apart when they heard someone opening the door. Summer stepped away from Seth as though to say what happened just then didn't happen. It was Zach she was with after all.

"I won't say a word." Seth painfully agreed, after all he realized, this was just part of the moment.

"Bu.." was all Summer could say before Zach came in.

_I'll close my eyes_  
_then I won't see_  
_the love you don't feel_  
_when you're holding me_

_Morning will come_  
_and I'll do what's right_  
_just give me till then_  
_to give up this fight_  
_and I will give up this fight_

"You guys ready? We should head out soon, it's getting really late." Zach said as he grabbed his and Summer's bags.

"Yeah..." Summer looked at him and then looked at Seth who seemed perfectly fine.

"I'll be out in five ok?" Seth stood up and went to his room to gather his things. He walked passed Summer without looking at her.

"Is he going to be all right after the outbreak?" Zach asked Summer.

"I don't know" was all she can reply.

The ride home was a quiet trip back to good old Newport. There was a deafening silence that surrounded them. Seth was awfully quiet in the back seat and was just staring outside the window. Summer wanted to talk to him but she couldn't. Zach still had no idea of what went on earlier.

"Thanks." Seth said as he closed the door of the car. Not much else was said except for goodnights. Zach drove off the Cohen's driveway and Seth went in his house with his head down to his chest. It was hard for him to accept it, but slowly he started to believe the situation between him and Summer will never be the same. He dragged himself to his room, leaving his luggage on the floor. He lied down on the bed, pulled the covers over his head and tried hard to fall asleep.

_Cause I can't make you love me_  
_if you don't_  
_You can't make your heart feel_  
_something it won't_  
_Here in the dark_  
_in these final hours_  
_I will lay down my heart_  
_And I'll feel the power_  
_but you won't_  
_No, you won't_  
_Cause I can't make you love me_  
_if you don't_

_song fades out_

Summer couldn't kiss Zach goodnight after what happened with Seth earlier, she knew things won't ever be the same again. Zach left her house confused. All she could think about now is Seth, as much as she didn't want to.

- - - - - - - - - -

It'd been a couple of weeks since the comic book debacle happened. Summer wanted to talk to him, she just couldn't find him. Seth did all he could to avoid her. Whenever he would see her out on the hallways and he would go the opposite direction. Summer felt that he did this on purpose, because this was the first time that she called and he didn't pick up.

"Ryan" she spotted him before going to class. He turned around. "Do you know how I can get a hold of Cohen?" she sounded a little desperate.

"I don't know" he said. "He's been pulling a disappearing act since he got back from your trip."

"Has he mentioned anything to you?" she asked.

"Surprisingly he's kept his mouth shut. It kind of makes me miss his babbling..." he realized what he said. "just a little." he added.

"Ok, Thanks Ryan." she said and walked towards her car.

She knew her way to enter the Cohen's house, even where the key was hidden when she used to sneak in to Seth' s room. After all that time, Seth never thought of changing the hiding place. Summer went up to his room and decided to wait for him there. A couple of hours later, she almost fell asleep listening to his music, she heard the door open.

"Summer?" he walked in and saw her sitting on his bed. "What are you doing here?" he asked, confused.

"Why have you been avoiding me, Cohen?" he winced as she asked him the question.

"There's no point in confrontation." he said.

"We still have to talk." she affirmed.

"What for? I know where this would lead to anyway. We'd talk and then share this one of a kind kiss and then you'll take it back and pretend it never happened. Clearly we're not meant to be together, I was just infatuated or just plain dillusional to think that we could actually work." he snapped. "I get it already, What else do we have to talk about?"

"I guess nothing..." she said and was confused by what just happened. She looked at him, shoved a piece of paper at him and walked out almost teary eyed. Seth has never lashed his feelings to anyone like that, especially not to Summer. He bit his lip and watched her slam his door as she left. He didn't mean for things to come out the way they did. Seth never wanted to hurt her, but obviously he did. He opened the note and read what it said. 

_Dear Seth, _  
_You know its hard for me to tell you my feelings, face to face. So I'm writing you this to tell you the truth. I still care about you. I can't lie to myself anymore. No matter what I do or say, somehow you still win me over. Zach and I are over. You're still my first in a lot of things and that will always stay true. If you feel the same, I need to know. _

"Love, Summer..." he read and looked at the door she slammed earlier.

- - - - - - - - - -

"He said he was just infatuated and dillusional." Summer said and looked like she was about to cry to Marissa. After she stormed out of Seth's house, she went over to her best friend's house.

"Seth's just as confused as you are." Marissa said.

"I'm not confused Coop. What are you talking about?" she said in defense.

"You are Summ. You clearly still like him a whole lot for you to get this upset." she responded. Summer was going to say something back but she wasn't about to lie to Marissa.

"I think he's finally over me." was all she muttered before she slowly broke down in tears. Marissa felt really bad for her friend. She hasn't seen Summer like this since Seth left last summer. She hugged her close as she sobbed on her shoulder. All Marissa could do was try to keep her calm and figure out what to say.

Seth went over to the pool house to talk to Ryan who was studying for an exam. He told him the rundown of what happened in his room.

"She still cares about me, Ryan. she says so right here." He said as he showed him the note that she wrote.

"So why are you talking to me about this, not Summer?" he asked with an annoyed tone in his voice.

"I told her that I was dillusional for thinking that we could work. What the hell was I thinking?" he said.

"You weren't." Ryan responded while reading his notes.

"That was meant to be a rhetorical question." Seth snapped.

"I still say you weren't thinking clearly, Seth.." Ryan looked up from his reading. "You've always had feelings for Summer and it lasted this long, don't tell me you meant what you said." he added.

"Of course I didn't mean it. You know that, I know that. But she doesn't. What am I supposed to do now?" Seth said as he sat down and put his hands on his head. "I was actually asking for advise here." he said when everything became quiet.

"I thought you were still going for the rhetoric here." Ryan tried to joke but it didn't work on Seth. "ok, then apologize" Seth nodded his head sideways. "Seth I really have to go study, I have a Physics exam, it's pretty important."

"All right." he said. "I've just had a eureka moment in my head right now." He clasps his hands and laughs in a creepy manner.

"You're starting to scare me... even more than usual." Ryan went back to read the last chapters of his book.

- - - - - - - - - -

It was two in the morning. Summer was finally falling asleep until she heard her phone rang very low. She picked up and didn't even look to see who was calling.

"Hello?" she answered in an annoyed tone.

"Look outside your window." a familiar voice said to her. Sleepily, she walked over to her window and opened her curtains, it was Seth.

"Cohen, its two o'clock. What the hell are you doing?" she didn't mean it to come out like that. She was right, who in their right mind would call someone to look outside their window at two o'clock in the morning?

"I couldn't sleep." He looked miserable, out of sleep and rest. "I came here to tell you how I feel."

"Don't you think you've said enough earlier?" Summer snapped at him.

"I didn't mean what I said." he admitted. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I really am."

Summer felt that he meant what he said. A part of her did not want to continue the conversation but the other part wanted to be with him.

"Is that all you think you have to do for me to forgive you?" she asked.

"I hoped so, and you said to tell you if I felt the same. Summer you know I'll do anything to get you back with me." he said sincerly.

"Why are you doing this, Cohen?" she asked softly.

"Doing what?" he asked back.

"Why are you making it so hard for me to hate you?" she replied with another question.

"Because I know you don't" he said. He was looking up at her window wondering what she would say next when she disappeared from his sight. She ran downstairs and opened the front door with her right hand holding the cordless phone to her ear. Seth turned his phone off when he saw her and put it in his pocket. She walked over to where he was standing and kissed him. He held her face with his soft touch and slowly they broke the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and she closed her eyes. He kissed her forehead then she looked up.

"So you're not over me Cohen?" she asked.

"Never." he responded. "Will you take back a kiss that we have?" he asked coily.

"We'll see about that." she said with a smile. "My dad's not home and the step mom is passed out somewhere. Do you want to stay over?" she whispered. He nodded yes and they went in her house hand in hand.

Seth sat on the bed next to Summer who was constantly yawning. He kissed the top of her head and put his arms around her. She looked up at him then he kissed her on the lips. He then nestled her under his arm where she fit perfectly. He kissed her on her forehead and mouthed "I love you". She smiled and mouthed it back. It was their moment of peace and acceptance. Both of them knew that what they have was real, and finally they can rest and drift off into the night without worries.


End file.
